In a Slump!

[jaymoore]

Practice session Friday last absolutely confirmed it: Could NOT keep my shots in a 3" circle, standing at 25 yards with the scoped .44 629-6. (That 3" is about the size of the 1/2 scale IHMSA Chicken's body.) Fighting to keep it within a 5" pattern.

And fighting to get a good shot isn't something productive. Hold was a bit wobbly, nothing new, it was the ole' trigger finger that wasn't cooperating. Kept wanting to snatch off shots as the crosshairs passed the optimal area. And wasn't calling the impacts well.

It almost feels like I'm a bit afraid of the gun. Loads aren't steamy: 240gr swaged lead pills at ~1000fps, and little history of the scope bumping off my face over the past three years or so, but that was the general impression.

Wishing there was a D&T'ed 8 3/8" barreled .22 revolver.

Or an IHMSA standing position coach!

Or something.

Decided instead to shoot some Freestyle (creedmoor) position .22 and some Airpistol for the match Saturday.

Did manage to make International Class .22 UAS and made a match leg in Unlimited Air Pistol.

But toppling steel standing in much more my thing. So the quest will continue!

One good bit of news is that the Speer .44 swaged bullets came back in stock. Less worried about the largely depleted supply on hand, so here's hoping that lots of effective practice will help matters!


To be continued....

 

[sw282]

l cant lmagine the Great J Moose succumbing to an attack of Flinchitis..

l thought it only plagued old guys like me... Hopefully Sherri fed yall well.

Sadly, no photos with your post Jay.. After Photobuckets surprise attack

on this Forums pictures l hope they go down ln Defeat like the Japs did

after their Sneak Attack 0n Pearl Harbor.

Happy Fourth 0f July

 

[Wise_A]

I might suggest a few things, from the Bullseye world, that help me through my slumps.

(1) Have a written shot process--a series of steps that literally starts with how you pick the gun up, and ends when you're done shooting. Some guys have multiple pages written down, including when to abort a shot. When you encounter a slump, refer back to the written process and see what you're not doing.

(2) Take a break. Depending on how often you shoot and practice, it could mean a week or two, or it could mean a month. If your shooting is off, then you more than likely picked up a bad habit that you're only reinforcing by repeating it. Taking time off gives you time to un-learn that bad habit and return to the sport focusing on the fundamentals. And it's all fundamentals. You don't have to stop shooting altogether--just shoot something radically different for awhile. If you're normally a precision shooter, consider popping steel or cans with a 9mm.

(3) You're taking yourself too seriously. One of the worst things that can happen to a shooter is to have a really good aggregate or even a single really good target. Once you show yourself you can shoot much better than your average, then you start over-focusing on results. Shooting well once creates problems--everything from overholding to chicken finger. You have to be focused on the process, and more importantly, you have to have fun.

What you describe--snatching shots--sounds a lot like what I do after I shoot a really good slow fire. I know trying to snatch a shot or overholding is counterproductive. It's pretty much a guaranteed way to not shoot a 10. But it's such an easy habit to fall into because it seems so logical. Why increase trigger pressure when the sights aren't on the 10?

The goal is to--and this is hard to explain--have a positive relationship with the trigger. If I'm doing it badly, I reflect on it a bit later and realize that I was almost afraid of releasing the shot. The closer and closer I got to the hammer dropping, the slower and slower I built trigger pressure. Instead, I want to raise, and apply consistently-increasing pressure while the sights settle, until the shot is released.

I have a couple mantras, which sometimes help:

"The sights work in four dimensions, not three. The fourth dimension is time. They can only show me where I'm aiming now, not where I'll be aiming when the shot breaks."

"I can't make a 10 happen, but I can get out of the way and let one happen."

 

[Wee Hooker]

So maybe you should look for a long barrel model 617 ( or even a 686) . Not sure how relivant the 8 3/8" length is given your scoped and you would be in a different frame size anyway. If your find isn't D&T, it's not hard to get a mount or have it drilled. Barring that, maybe buy/load a low recoil "cowboy" load to feed your current gun. Cheap, low recoil practice is a good thing for getting rid of demons.

 

[75Vette]

That means you're freed up to spot for & coach me then, right??

 

[jaymoore]

That means you're freed up to spot for & coach me then, right??

Hope to be back on the game by next month! But as for spotting, if Kdiver's not there we can swap off spotting duties. I've been getting L Godwin's feet wet spotting lately, which probably only highlights my poor coaching skills! Ron and RP both are better coaches.

The down side to spotting for others is that you can shoot fewer entries, but the upside is a good spotter can greatly help your scores, which means the entries you do shoot have a higher learning curve. It's about as important as good trigger control in the standing classes.

Ideally, your spotter should be full time, so you get used to their idiosyncrasies. Even better is a good spotter who DOESN'T shoot, but that's a rare gem. Ron's blessed that way at the BB matches.

 

[sw282]

A million years ago l lost my dominant left eye. After about a year l picked up my shotgun again putting it to my RIGHT shoulder. lt felt like l had my shoes on the WRONG feet. Fortunately an old NRA instructor and true GENTLEMAN saw my plight and frustration...He took pity on me and offered his assistance.. He was my lifeline for a sinking swimmer. l finally learned to shoot the RIGHT WAY.. My Skeet scores more than doubled and good Bench Rest skills with a rifle allowed me to compete reasonably well without spending a BAZILLION dollars... ALL because of an old gentleman who took up time on a cripple..